A steering wheel assembly of a modern vehicle includes a foam covered base plate with spokes and rim, a driver air bag (DAB) assembly, and a set of electrical contacts for activation of one or more horns. A set of spring-biased locking pawls secure the DAB assembly to the base plate while permitting limited deflection of the DAB assembly toward the base plate to activate the horn when the driver pushes on the exposed surface of the DAB assembly. Horn activation occurs when deflection of the DAB assembly relative to the base plate closes one or more normally-open switches disposed between or integrated into the DAB assembly and the base plate. What is desired is a reliable horn switch apparatus that is inexpensive to manufacture and that contributes to low overall cost of the steering wheel assembly. Furthermore, it is desired that the horn switches be electrically isolated from the DAB assembly to simplify the assembly of the steering wheel components.